n his countenance.

"Have they anything?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all?"

"No; nothing but mutton." Nothing but mutton! _I_ was entirely
reconciled. When it came I made a fine dinner, but he took very little
of it. There are great flocks of sheep belonging to the Bouriats in
Eastern Siberia, and they form the chief support of that people.
Curiously enough the Russians rarely eat mutton, though so abundant
around them. Borasdine told me it seldom appeared on a Siberian table,
and I observed that both nobles and peasants agreed in disliking it.
While at dinner we caught sight of a pretty face and figure, more to
my fellow traveler's taste than the _piece de resistance_ of our meal.

After dinner we passed over a hill and entered a level region where we
found plenty of mud. About midnight the yemshick exhibited his skill
by driving into a mudhole where there was solid ground on both sides.
We were hopelessly stuck, and all our cries and utterances were of no
avail. The Cossack and the driver could accomplish nothing, and we
were obliged to descend from the carriage. We required our
subordinates to put their shoulders to the wheels, though the
operation covered them with mud. While they lifted we shouted to the
horses, Borasdine in Russian and I in French and English.

Twenty minutes of this toil accomplished nothing. Then we unloaded all
our baggage down to the smallest articles. Another effort and we were
still in our slough of despond. I retreated to a neighboring fence and
returned with a stout pole. The Cossack brought another, and we
arranged to lift the fore wheels to somewhere near the surface. It was
my duty to urge the horses, and I flattered myself that I performed
it.

I had the driver's whip to assist my utterance; the others lifted,
while I struck and shouted. We had a long pull, a strong pull, and a
pull all together, and pulled out of the depths. I attributed no small
part of the success to the effect of American horse-vocabulary upon
Russian quadrupeds. When we reloaded it was refreshing to observe the
care with which the Cossack had placed our pillows on the wet ground
and piled heavy baggage over them. Borasdine expressed his objection
to this plan in such form that the Cossack was not likely to repeat
the operation.

The motion of the tarantass, especially its jolting over the rough
parts of the route, gave me a violent headache, the worst I ever
experienced. The journey commenced too